Most, not all people on the old SS forum as well as here are just habitual cry babies and bitchers with nothing to offer.
I'm not on forums much anymore because they are for the most part useless.
You don't learn anything from people who cry their heart out.
I'm not very sociable, I'm not good at small talk so I'm not on forums much anymore.
Yeah, that's me in the long gray beard. Yes, I take selfies. Yes, they sell. All the time.
I've not done any for several months because after I hit 10,000 uploads in one year I decided to take a break.
I've had conversations with some really big sellers and learned quite a bit. I'm now back to uploading, uploading, uploading.
Not as hard and furious as I did in that first year but I'm working at it.
I now look really hard at what sells and what does not sell. Not surprisingly, I don't do the stuff that does not sell.
Knowledge was the main advantage I gained with that magic 10,000 port. It's not bragging, I did it!
I know what does not sell. I don't know what and how the big sellers are made of. I'm working on that.
I've had some really high paying editorial sellers that left me shaking my head. I'm not after those. What I'm after
is subjects and images that sell really well regularly.
I uploaded about 2100 selfies to see if they made money. They do. I'm not happy about how much they bring in but they sell.
I took the off time to look at what sells and what does not. From my images.
I still try new stuff, new subjects and so on. I'm in a race. A race against myself making money. Not in the number of uploads.
So starting this month I'm back to uploading. A LOT!
With a difference. I understand the argument against images that look alike. I try to avoid them because they are
a waste of my time and a waste of the agencies time.
I also stopped hating the evaluators and just embrace what I learn from the rejects.
A couple of months ago I tossed, sold actually all of my DLSR, crop sensor stuff. The cameras and the lenses.
I'm all in with the new Nikon Z cameras. They work great! I get a lot fewer rejects for focus and hardly ever any for
too much like other photos I have submitted.
I'm doing quite a few videos. That was the reason I got rid of my DSLRs. I wanted to do videos.
It's late in the game for videos because everybody with a smart phone submits them.
But they do bring in money and with the new software they are easy to do.
If you do videos use a tripod. Even with the new magical, superb, much hyped Z9 you need to shoot with a tripod.
I keep 3 or 5 of them in my car at all times. I'm getting ready to toss the monopods and other gimmicks that don't work.
It's impossible to beat a tripod.
So that's it. Now you know all about me and are up to date.
I do stock for money. I try to make as much money as possible from each submission.
I wish I had the magic formula for the big bucks but I don't I'm still struggling with that.
Good luck and keep uploading, uploading, uploading.
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Grossinger

If things are going so great for you - congratulations. But I remember a posting in another forum/blog not so long ago that it's not going well for you at all. With your own words, you were wining and crying there 

Maybe you could provide a little proof that upload-upload-upload is worth it. That would really motivate me   

Most, not all people on the old SS forum as well as here are just habitual cry babies and bitchers with nothing to offer.
I'm not on forums much anymore because they are for the most part useless.
You don't learn anything from people who cry their heart out.
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Grossinger

�I am the king of images that don�t sell. If you ever come across a category that does sell, let me know. I have 11,000+ images in my port that don�t sell. I just recently traded off all of my DSLR equipment in favor of mirrorless. Cameras and lenses. So far I�ve not taken many pictures with the new Z 7 ii and the Z6 but I love both cameras. I�m just now getting ready to start taking pictures that won�t sell or sell for dimes again.�

Quote from: UPLOAD-UPLOAD-UPLOAD on May 10, 2022, 12:38

Most, not all people on the old SS forum as well as here are just habitual cry babies and bitchers with nothing to offer.
I'm not on forums much anymore because they are for the most part useless.
You don't learn anything from people who cry their heart out.
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Grossinger

�I am the king of images that don�t sell. If you ever come across a category that does sell, let me know. I have 11,000+ images in my port that don�t sell. I just recently traded off all of my DSLR equipment in favor of mirrorless. Cameras and lenses. So far I�ve not taken many pictures with the new Z 7 ii and the Z6 but I love both cameras. I�m just now getting ready to start taking pictures that won�t sell or sell for dimes again.�

Thanks Wilm, I had not found the quote so quickly. There is a certain need for explanation for the contradiction

Yes, I have some images that sell well.
Yes, I have too many images in my port that don't sell at all.
NO, I'm not satisfied with how my sales are going.
Sorry, I don't see a contradiction.

I don't get much satisfaction arguing with the nitpickers and the hatemongers.
Those that are interested in increasing their sales, keep at it! Don't give up and don't
spend much time in the forums. You can't take pictures, keyword and title them and upload them if
you are on the forum every day. It's one or the other.
You don't see the really successful, big sellers on the forums. They are too busy doing stock.
I'm not all that successful yet, but I don't have time for silly word games either.

One thing I want to clear up. On my original post I stated that I got rid of all of my DSLR equipment.
Mostly true, but I don't want to give the impression you have to go full frame mirrorless to get sales.
You can build a perfectly fine port with just a fairly new, decent smart phone.

I'm no longer sharing anything about my port. It really irritates people when I talk about the
10,000 images I uploaded in 12 months, just like I said I would when I first started as a complete newbie.
Nothing angers people more than the success of others.
So, I won't post about the port that is now 11,193 images strong.
I've decided to kick my port into gear again, so I don't have time for forums anyway.
You can upload, upload, upload or you can post on the forums but it's very difficult to
do both. I'm going with the option that pays me.
Take care now and good luck

I see you�ve met Joe😄

To paraphrase, �portfolio size is vanity, portfolio income is sanity�

the port that is now 11,193 images strong.

How many unique images out of 11,193?

Poor Joe. I always smile to myself whenever I see his threads on a forum. There are no half measures with Joe. People either love him or hate him. But he is definitely not forgettable.

When he first started a few years ago, there was a time on the old SS forum, where a lot of newbies would ask for feedback on their portfolios, and there were always a handful of people giving advice who would say to them, 'you only have a dozen photos, how do you expect to compete with millions in the database. You need a lot more photos.'

So along came newbie Joe, and he said he was going to upload 10k photos in his first year. And he got attacked for that. But he stuck to his guns, set his goal, and did a very amazing effort. He travelled a lot, went to a lot of different events and locations, and for someone with some serious health issues, he did quite a valiant job. In the beginning, there were not that many similars in his port. But towards the end of the year, he was running out of time, so he took all these 'selfies' and made a lot of similars - to reach his goal. And of course, he got attacked for that.

Yes, he's controversial, he's a fighter, but he's also a really nice guy when you get to know him. So, hopefully people will just relax and take it all in good humor. There are a lot worse things happening at the moment.

Annie, I'm not going to comment further on this issue in general right now. But I thank you for your peace efforts. Because you are absolutely right: There are certainly much bigger and weightier issues at the moment than microstock!
What you have written has certainly cost you time to find a good and mediating formulation. And that finds my full appreciation!

Quote from: Annie on May 19, 2022, 15:03

Poor Joe. I always smile to myself whenever I see his threads on a forum. There are no half measures with Joe. People either love him or hate him. But he is definitely not forgettable.

When he first started a few years ago, there was a time on the old SS forum, where a lot of newbies would ask for feedback on their portfolios, and there were always a handful of people giving advice who would say to them, 'you only have a dozen photos, how do you expect to compete with millions in the database. You need a lot more photos.'

So along came newbie Joe, and he said he was going to upload 10k photos in his first year. And he got attacked for that. But he stuck to his guns, set his goal, and did a very amazing effort. He travelled a lot, went to a lot of different events and locations, and for someone with some serious health issues, he did quite a valiant job. In the beginning, there were not that many similars in his port. But towards the end of the year, he was running out of time, so he took all these 'selfies' and made a lot of similars - to reach his goal. And of course, he got attacked for that.

Yes, he's controversial, he's a fighter, but he's also a really nice guy when you get to know him. So, hopefully people will just relax and take it all in good humor. There are a lot worse things happening at the moment.

Annie, I'm not going to comment further on this issue in general right now. But I thank you for your peace efforts. Because you are absolutely right: There are certainly much bigger and weightier issues at the moment than microstock!
What you have written has certainly cost you time to find a good and mediating formulation. And that finds my full appreciation!

Thanks Wilm. You are a such sweetie. And I know you don't like bad behaviour on the forums.

I suffer from reactive hypoglycemia (non-diabetic) and have lots of blood sugar crashes if I don't watch my diet, and have had some outbursts on the forum. More recently at a poor guy here called half-full for being too negative (which is a bit of a contradiction in itself when you think of it. lol), and then I left the forum for awhile until I got myself in better shape. Then there was the time I yelled at a bot on SS forum, and made a complete fool of myself. That was the day after my birthday with a major blood sugar crash caused by eating too many carbs. I remember Mihai saying to me, all that because of cake! lol. Yep.

I know Terry keeps away from forums because his illness causes outbursts, which is a shame because he has so much to offer. I want him to come back and just say, 'hey I am medically incapable of suffering fools!' lol

...

@pacesetter. Wow, that's great. There were some fun threads back then. The road to 10k images, $30,000, 30k ducks, etc, etc. We thought we were just having fun, but its good to know that it was of some benefit to others.

I know Terry keeps away from forums because his illness causes outbursts, which is a shame because he has so much to offer. I want him to come back and just say, 'hey I am medically incapable of suffering fools!' lol

hey I am medically incapable of suffering fools!

Quote

"How many images do you have"! Then they flip and criticize when someone went with that plan and they criticize and say... well how many are similar?

The OP wasn't the first to be criticized for similars.  Remember white 3D box specialist?  Remember Turkish flag guy with their former leader on it?

Shutterstock would nix some users for 2 similars while letting others dump entire cards of high-speed burst images on the system.  Shutterstock was really the problem because their "standards" would not only allow such cases, but stolen images, too.  How many stolen images are still being reported now, even here? 

I think there's a lot of selective amnesia going on here.  I'll just leave it at that.

Yes, the 3d box guy, etc, were definitely extreme examples.

But a couple of years ago, SS was more lenient with models, even though they were starting to cut back on similars in general. I am not a model/portrait photographer but I am pretty sure there was a policy that same model/different poses were exceptions to the rule, and were allowed.

At the moment of course, its almost impossible to get anything that looks remotely similar to be approved by SS. I was trying to get product mockup shots with same backgrounds approved. The reviewer/AI sees the same background, and doesn't know the difference between a picture frame, a baby romper, or a greeting card, and they all but one get rejected. You need same backgrounds for buyers who want branding sets - so I have given up on SS even though they do sell very well there - if you can get them uploaded! lol

However, after selling product mockups on Etsy and watching buyers patterns and talking to some buyers directly, I found out that they actually want to buy 3 different shots of the same product mockup - to demonstrate how their product looks in different photos. AS seems to understand this, allows these shots, and therefore I often sell multiple shots there of these so-called 'similars'.